evacuate

verb evac·u·ate \ i-ˈva-kyə-ˌwāt , -kyü-ˌāt \

Updated on: 20 May 2018

Definition of evacuate

evacuated; evacuating

transitive verb

1 : to remove the contents of : empty

2 : to discharge from the body as waste : void

3 : to remove something (such as gas or water) from especially by pumping

4 a : to remove especially from a military zone or dangerous area

b : to withdraw from military occupation of

c : vacate 1

were ordered to evacuate the building

intransitive verb

1 : to withdraw from a place in an organized way especially for protection

2 : to pass urine or feces from the body

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evacuative

play \i-ˈva-kyə-ˌwā-tiv, -kyü-ˌā-\ adjective

See evacuate defined for English-language learners

See evacuate defined for kids

Examples of evacuate in a Sentence

People who live along the coast are being evacuated as the hurricane approaches.
During World War II, children were evacuated from London to the country.
Residents were ordered to evacuate the building.
Residents have been ordered to evacuate.

Recent Examples of evacuate from the Web

More than 1,700 people had to evacuate, and about a dozen homes were consumed.

— adam rogers, WIRED, "The Implacable Power of Volcanic Lava," 10 May 2018
Employees were instructed to stay away from campus, and the company offered to pay for accommodations for anyone who had to evacuate.

— author: david gelles, Anchorage Daily News, "Patagonia v. Trump: Inside a battle over public lands," 6 May 2018
Employees were instructed to stay away from campus, and the company offered to pay for accommodations for anyone who had to evacuate.

— david gelles, New York Times, "Patagonia v. Trump," 5 May 2018
All residents of the two-story, multi-family complex were evacuated but only the one unit was deemed uninhabitable because of fire and smoke damage by DuPage County officials, the release said.

— rafael guerrero, Naperville Sun, "Naperville-area townhouse fire displaces family of five," 3 May 2018
On several occasions, carbon monoxide appeared to be leaking from the tour buses, so the Lemonaid team had to evacuate.

— rebecca robbins, STAT, "A startup promised to make health care ‘refreshingly simple.’ Building the business has been anything but," 26 Apr. 2018
Officials had to evacuate riders and people waiting to board the illuminated Ferris wheel after a computer falsely sensed that the door to one of its gondolas was ajar, said spokesman Todd Schneider.

— bobby shipman, The Courier-Journal, "SkyStar Observation Wheel at Big Four Bridge closes early after glitch leads to evacuation," 7 Apr. 2018
The winds were howling so much in Washington DC on Friday that flight controllers at Dulles International Airport had to temporarily evacuate their tower, which suspended flight operations.

— eric berger, Ars Technica, "Major nor’easter whacking East Coast for the second time in two months," 2 Mar. 2018
One warm night in late April, everyone had to evacuate the building.

— benjy hansen-bundy, GQ, "A Week Inside WeLive, the Utopian Apartment Complex That Wants to Disrupt City Living," 27 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'evacuate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.